Weaving the academic and social: working in higher education on rural and remote Australian campuses
RIS ID
35847
Abstract
Our paper examines the complexities of providing academic learning support for students studying at small rural and regional Australian university campuses. As educators who live and work in regional campus communities, we have come to understand that the academic advice provided on campus has the potential to resonate through the social, and vice versa. We argue that, despite these complexities, this weaving of the social and academic can result in a teaching process more akin to a co-production of knowledge rather than the traditional didactic models of teaching employed at larger campuses where, in this type of populous environment, the teacher can be typically positioned as the locus of knowledge. Internationally, universities are increasingly looking to the multi-location model to expand their institutional footprint. In Australia and Britain current government education policies are recommending widening access to and participation in higher education study. Research findings from our project have application for those universities that operate campus networks comprising multiple small locations.
Publication Details
Stirling, J. & Rossetto, C. (2009). Weaving the academic and social: working in higher education on rural and remote Australian campuses. Beyond teaching and research: inclusive understandings of Academic Practice. 3rd CETL Conference St Anne's College, Oxford University: Centre for Excellence in Preparing for Academic Practice.